<body><div>Contributing Writer(Veritenews.org) – Following a contentious, months-long search, the New Orleans Regional Transit Authority on Tuesday (Oct. 27) selected Justin Augustine to be the next CEO of the agency.The vote caps off a lengthy process to find a new leader for the agency following the resignation of former CEO Lona Edwards Hankins in May. The search process drew scrutiny from Mayor Helena Moreno, who made remaking the transit agency a priority early on in her term, reconstituting the board earlier this year and, at one point, advocating for more local candidates during the CEO search.Augustine previously ran the RTA while it was under the private management of French transportation conglomerate Transdev, helping the agency to recover after much of its infrastructure was damaged or destroyed during Hurricane Katrina.<figure><img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=0s6TkV_1Grk416W00" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=0s6TkV_1Grk416W00" width="598" height="1002" ><figcaption>AUGUSTINE Photo by Diego Perdomo/Verite News</figcaption></figure>  “Mr. Augustine came with a perspective and a set of talent that was just unmatched,” said Ann Duplessis, who is the chair of the RTA Board of Commissioners and was among the four commissioners who voted for Augustine.Augustine beat out two other candidates for the job: Mark Major, a former deputy CEO of the agency, who left in 2024; and Reginald Mason, a Louisiana native currently at the helm of the Greensboro Transit Agency in North Carolina.When the board initially voted to narrow the list of five semifinalist candidates to three finalists in August, Major – who was a member of Moreno’s transition team – did not initially make the cut. Moreno stepped in, asking the board last month to reconsider all five. But it was only after one of the other finalists dropped out of consideration that Major was brought back in.Duplessis said that it was important for the board not to get caught up in the political dynamics of the selection – but instead focus on the merits of every candidate.“ His vision and what he’s bringing are these ideas and concepts that transit should be for everyone, that transit should become a natural part of how a community functions,” Duplessis said.It is not yet clear when Augustine will start and what salary he will earn. Duplessis is in charge of negotiating those details ahead of the board’s next meeting.Augustine will inherit an agency that has financially rebounded since its transition to self-management in 2019, but one that is still struggling to increase ridership and reliability of service.For Duplessis, Augustine’s previous work helping the agency recover after Katrina helped give her the confidence that he could lead the agency into the future.Transit advocates have said that they want the new CEO to focus on the basics – particularly when it comes to improving the reliability of the RTA’s bus service.Augustine said that he will be focused on slow growth, with the goal of continuously improving the agency with the resources on hand – as opposed to fast growth.“ Do I want more bus service out there? Absolutely,” Augustine said. “But you know, you have to deal with the resources of the organization, and you gotta look at the need in terms of, are you utilizing the assets you have today properly?”In a statement provided to the media, Moreno said she was excited about the RTA’s selection.“New Orleans needs strong leadership at RTA that understands the urgency of improving service, increasing reliability and delivering a better experience for our riders,” Moreno said. “We had an outstanding group of finalists, and I appreciate the hard work of the RTA Board throughout this process, as well as RIDE’s advocacy to ensure the public had a voi﻿ce.”This article originally published in the November 2, 2026 print edition of The Louisiana Weekly newspaper.</div></body>

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(Veritenews.org) – Following a contentious, months-long search, the New Orleans Regional Transit Authority on Tuesday (Oct. 27) selected Justin Augustine to be the next CEO of the agency. The vote caps off a lengthy process to find a new leader for the agency following the resignation of former CEO...

RTA board selects Justin Augustine III as CEO

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(Veritenews.org) – Following a contentious, months-long search, the New Orleans Regional Transit Authority on Tuesday (Oct. 27) selected Justin Augustine t

RTA board selects Justin Augustine III as CEO

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